Stampede Pass route reopens after boulder hits snowshed

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This damaged snow shed forced the closure of Stampede Pass over the weekend.

BNSF Railway

SEATTLE – BNSF Railway’s route over Stampede Pass has reopened following a weekend closure. The closure stemmed from a 10,000-pound boulder that struck a snow shed near Easton, about 70 miles east of Seattle.

Spokesman Gus Melonas tells Trains News Wire the rock had come down a mountainside over the weekend and went through the top of a snow shed, located at the end of tunnel, breaking some of the overhead timbers. A track inspector first discovered the boulder. BNSF employees worked over the weekend to remove the massive rock and inspect the track.

Eight trains were detoured on other lines through Washington.

Melonas says Stampede Pass was closed for about 24 hours but as of Monday trains were moving through the shed once again. He says additional repairs will be made to the structure this week.

BNSF’s Stampede Pass line connects the Seattle area with eastern Washington and was built for the Northern Pacific in the late 1800s. Burlington Northern shuttered the line in the 1980s but it was reopened in the late 1990s. It currently sees anywhere from six to 12 trains a day.